January 31st

This is my first post as the new Senior Curator! It’s been an absolute delight to start the role on such a strong week. While a lot of the active discussion has been about The Witness, I’m going to start this roundup with some excellent pieces on other topics that are worthy of your attention.

“[…] as freeing as it feels, the Prince’s moveset is all about serving the needs of the space rather than vice versa. It might allow you to defy gravity, but it’s designed to permit the elegant solution of problems within a rigorously mapped environment, rather than in order to be exploratory and transgressive.”

Gazing in wonder

“There’s a satisfaction to be derived in comparing our own motionless to the busyness of the world around us—to be the silence among the noise. This dichotomy can help us meditate on the glory of that singular moment.”

Hamish Grace offered a detailed overview of Brutalism, an architectural style that has been increasingly significant in games of late. For many, this style inspires awe and wonder at the majesty of concrete. PopMatters published a fascinating cinematic analysis of Kojima’s cut scenes, and how the meticulous, lingering gaze of his early work has been replaced by a faster-paced, minimalist single-shot approach.

“Even a good-hearted person can end up on the wrong the side of a repressive agenda, and yet still believe they are right. It’s too bad that The Westport Independent is far too blunt to carry this point home.”

Recognising erasure

“[…] trolling more generally oscillates between harassment, lulz, and protest/intervention, creating controversy not just between troll and trolled, but between trolls. I would go as far as to say that all trolling has a version of politics; even those trolls who claim to do it just for fun have a stake in protecting that fun. It’s what’s behind the fun, or what’s truly at stake, that’s of more interest.”

“[…] love stories are generally regarded as universal and exploring the relationship between two people is a natural direction to take for a piece of interactive fiction that revolves around instant messenger conversation. But there are so many other ways of addressing intimacy and relationships between two people.”

In another take on the power of non-romantic love, Sloane Cee shared a postmortem of a debut project that offers a compassionate approach to a trans coming out story.

As always, some developers’ attempts at representation leave much to be desired. Andrea Ritsu played Atari’s Pridefest and found no mention of LGBTQ rights whatsoever: Pride is portrayed instead as a celebration of rainbow-coloured joy, put in place to revive a stagnating economy. Todd Harper also gave a no-holds-barred criticism of Pridefest‘s erasure, stereotyping and depiction of pink-washed gentrification, while still defending the symbolic pleasures it may offer players.

Examining contexts

“We feel pressured to justify ourselves in terms of how capitalism values us, not as complex, fallible human beings, but as potential profit, as untapped markets, as innovators, as positive PR, as productivity, as a more “dynamic” workforce.”

Looking respectable

Gaming’s labyrinthine quest for institutional recognition seems to go on forever, and it can lead to some uncomfortable places. On the positive side, an avant-garde art blog covered a French festival featuring games as well as some remarkable digital art installations (part one | part two)

“One of the interesting phenomenons about game[s] is that techniques and experiments that were pioneered by artists, users and hackers feed into the R&D labs. And vice-versa, with innovations about interfaces, control systems and interactions bouncing back and forth between these two worlds and eventually seeping into mainstream consumption and culture.”

Witnessing the Genius

At last, we can turn our attention to the biggest topic of the week, Jonathan Blow’s much-anticipated island of mystifying puzzles. While much of the coverage has been effluent in its praise, some of the most interesting reviews have been frank about how it can frustrate, irritate and even enrage. Heather Alexandra’s review highlighted The Witness‘s arrogance as well as its charm.

“[…] you can almost feel how impressed with itself The Witness is. Like a giggling child sitting right over your shoulder, The Witness perches itself to watch and judge everything that you do.”

“Perhaps it is clever that the island in the witness more closely resembles a mini-golf course than an earnest place. It carries with it all of the deep capitalist ennui and shallow tourism of places and cultures you might expect.”

“Did you know that everything’s connected? Did you know that if you slowed down and truly observed your surroundings you might notice details you otherwise missed? Did you know that kid in college who became insufferable when they read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? If not, do you want to? Play The Witness.”

That’s all for this week! Make sure you check out the latest call for entries to Blogs of the Round Table; writing for BoRT could be a great way of making sure that your senpai notices you. If you spot a piece that should be included in This Week in Videogame Blogging, send it along via Twitter mention or email.

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It is an absolute joy to take on the role of Senior Curator. Please feel free to send comments or feedback to my Twitter: @rupazero, or for an overview of my other work check out rupazero.com.